1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to wagering and, more specifically, to a method for conducting concurrent multi-venue, multi-race, multi-outcome progressive pari-mutuel wagering.
2. The Prior Art
Pari-mutuel wagering essentially includes the placing of wagers by a plurality of individuals on the outcome of an event, wherein the bettors who place “winning” wagers share the betting pool minus a percentage taken out for the management or administration of the wagering activity. For example, pari-mutuel wagering is often associated with racing (e.g., horses or dogs) wherein individuals may place wagers on one or more aspects of the outcome of the race. These aspects may include, for example, which of the participants (also referred to herein as runners) will win the race, the order in which a plurality of runners will finish the race (e.g., exacta—ordered prediction of first and second place; trifecta—ordered prediction of first, second and third place; superfecta—ordered prediction of first through fourth place; etc.), or a runner finishing within a specified range of positions (e.g., a “show” wager for a given runner to finish in either first, second or third place; or a quinella wager for predicting the first and second place finishers regardless of order).
For those individuals who have placed a winning wager such that their prediction matches an actual event outcome, their payout is determined, in part, by the difficulty of the wager (e.g., a show wager vs. a trifecta wager), in part, by the size of the pool as defined by the total amount of wagers placed for a given event and, in part, the specific wagers made by other bettors. Thus, for example, if a defined prize pool is to be paid out to those wagers which selected runner X as the winner and, for example, 20 individual wagers were placed on runner X to win, the prize pool will be divided among those 20 bettors in proportion to the amount each of the 20 individual bettors wagered on such an outcome.
Pari-mutuel wagering is preferred by some individuals because a wager may be “handicapped” in the sense that a bettor may study different facets of an event to make an educated prediction of the outcome of the event prior to placing their wager. For example, in a horse race, a bettor may review the past performances of the horses, the training histories of the horses, the breeding histories of the horses, which jockeys will be participating and other related information. Consideration of such information enables a bettor to make a more educated prediction regarding the outcome of a race or other event.
Many individuals prefer other types of wagering activities, such as slot machines, purchasing of lottery tickets, or other conventional wagering activities offered at a casino or a lottery facility, because they find the act of handicapping a pari-mutuel wager to be complex, difficult and time consuming. Furthermore, several hours may pass between the time an individual places a wager on a series of races and the outcome of the wager is made known. Such is in contrast to casino wagering wherein multiple wagers may be placed and the outcome of each be made known in rapid succession such as with slot machines.
There have been various attempts by pari-mutuel venues to attract the individuals who are attracted either to simpler wagering activities or the potential for a larger payout. For example, random wagers, sometimes referred to as “quick picks”, have been offered at pari-mutuel venues to satisfy those patrons which prefer simpler wagering activities. Such a random wager may include an appropriately configured wagering terminal which is configured to randomly choose the outcome of the event (e.g., the winning runner of a race) on which the bettor places his or her wager. These wagers are added to the pool of wagers or, in other words, commingled with handicapped wagers which have been placed in regards to the same event. However, those individuals that are placing random wagers, such as a quick-pick type wager, may feel disadvantaged by the fact that other bettors are handicapping their wagers and, therefore, that such other bettors may have a better chance at winning a portion of the wagering pool.
An important factor in attracting patron interest is the size and frequency of the probable jackpot that a patron can expect to win. Thus, it is desirable to provide relatively large jackpots available in a faster timeframe than is currently offered in the sport. Prior to the invention, multi-event wagers were limited to single venue settings. Due to this limitation, a player was required to wait until the sequence of races was completed, a process which could take several hours.
While expertise in wagering on horse racing is beneficial, a novice is not disadvantaged because each horse is favored to win their race. Statistically a horse will finish “in the money” (either first, second or third) approximately 70% of the time. This provides a more level foundation from which novices predictions are based on the exact same horses that the experienced handicapper must select from.
Therefore it would be advantageous to provide a lottery-type game or a method of pari-mutuel wagering which is attractive to a wide variety of patrons and provides for increased number of jackpots available at a greater frequency with larger payouts. It would also be advantageous to provide a method of playing a lottery-type game or placing a pari-mutuel wager with a simplified wagering process such that reduces some of the complexity commonly associated with the pari-mutuel form of wagering. Finally, it would also be advantageous to offer multiple prize tiers so that less experienced bettors, including lottery players, have an improved opportunity to win despite not being an experienced handicapper.